Pawlenty: Paul Ryan Budget Shows ‘Real Leadership’

The most official of the almost-official frontrunners for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, has nothing but praise for the idea of Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget proposal.

In a statement, Pawlenty says, “Thanks to Paul Ryan in Congress, the American people finally have someone offering real leadership in Washington.”

But Pawlenty had little to say about the substance of the plan, which he said “is going to be debated for several months to come.”

Instead of kicking off that debate, Pawlenty returned to his repeated call for Republicans not to allow an increase in the national debt ceiling.“That’s a really bad idea. With over $14 trillion debt already, we should not allow Washington’s big spenders to put us further in the hole,” Pawlenty said in a statement. “We must get our fiscal house in order with real spending cuts and with real structural reforms that stop the spending spree before it bankrupts our country.”

Read Pawlenty’s whole statement:

“Thanks to Paul Ryan in Congress, the American people finally have someone offering real leadership in Washington. President Obama has failed to lead and make tough choices his entire time in the White House. While the budget is going to be debated for several months to come, the more immediate issue we face is President Obama’s plans to raise the debt ceiling next month. That’s a really bad idea. With over $14 trillion debt already, we should not allow Washington’s big spenders to put us further in the hole. We must get our fiscal house in order with real spending cuts and with real structural reforms that stop the spending spree before it bankrupts our country.”